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William Clyde Elliott was born in Dawsonville, Georgia on October 8, 1955. According to his autobiography, many generations of Elliott's resided there. He was named after two relatives and is the youngest of three boys. His parents were Erving "George" Elliott Jr. (1924-1998) and Mildred Reece (Died in 1991) His father George created a lumber company and loved racing,and later created a speed shop where Bill's brothers, Ernie (born 1947) and Dan (born 1951), both worked there. His father was also a Ford person and later created a Ford dealership as there were not any around.[4]

Driving a car owned by his father, George Elliott,[6] Elliott made his first Winston Cup Series start at Rockingham in 1976. He qualified 34th in a field of 36 cars; Elliott only lasted 32 laps that day before the oil pump failed in his Ford Torino, earning him $640. Elliott toiled for five years in the Winston Cup Series without corporate sponsorship, and along the way showed flashes that he could compete with the established veterans of the sport. In mid-1977, Elliott bought a Mercury Montego from Bobby Allison after his split from Penske Racing to replace the inferior Torino, and the move paid off. He soon earned his first Top 10 finish in the Southern 500 (10th), and his first top-5 finish 2 years later in the same race, finishing second to race winner (and Elliott's boyhood hero) David Pearson.

In the fall of 1980, Elliott gained his first major sponsor in the form of $500 from Harry Melling of Melling Racing in the 1980 National 500 at Charlotte. Melling would extend his contract and gave the team enough sponsorship to run a 12 race schedule in 1981. After a 1981 season that consisted of one Top 5 and seven Top 10 finishes in 13 races, including the team's first pole in the CRC Chemicals Rebel 500

Melling bought the team from Elliott's father George on December 1, 1981. In 1983, Elliott earned won his first Winston Cup race in the final race of the season — the Winston Western 500 at Riverside. Elliott also finished second four times including the Daytona 500 on his way to a third-place finish in the championship point standings that season. He gained full sponsorship from Coors in 1984 to the tune of $400,000 and won three races – the Michigan 400, the Miller High Life 500, and the American 500. He also collected four poles and finished third in the final points standings for the second time.

In 1985, Elliott scored 11 wins and 11 poles out of 28 races and also won the first Winston Million[7] in the Southern 500 at Darlington. This would give him the nickname "Million Dollar Bill" and "Awesome Bill From Dawsonville". The only major of the four he did not win was the Coca-Cola 600 (a driver needed only to win a "small slam" of the four majors to win the bonus; Elliott, as of 2013, has yet to finish a Career Grand Slam). This allowed him to become the second NASCAR driver to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, following Cale Yarborough after his win in the 1977 Daytona 500. Elliott finished second in the championship point standings by 101 points, losing the Winston Cup Championship to Darrell Waltrip after a string of poor finishes in the last quarter of the season.

Elliott also set an unprecedented NASCAR record of winning five consecutive pole qualifying sessions in that season; the June Pocono race, the Firecracker 400, the July races in Pocono and Talladega, and the August Michigan race. That did not include the June Michigan race where qualifying was rained out, and the July Pocono race pole was where he started second, but further investigation led NASCAR to throw out the winning pole time for illegal fuel additives, retroactively awarding Elliott the pole award, money, and credit towards the season-long award for most poles won.[8]

In 1986, Elliott won both Michigan races, four poles and finished fourth in the championship standings. He also won The Winston II, held at Atlanta, the only year the race was run somewhere other than Charlotte. He won six races the next season, including his second Daytona 500, and the Talladega 500, seven poles, and finished second in the final point standings. In The Winston, he tangled with Dale Earnhardt in what has become known as "the Pass In The Grass". However, Elliott's most lasting accomplishment that year was setting two NASCAR qualifying records, which stand to this day. At Daytona, he set the NASCAR speed record with an average speed of 210.364 miles per hour (338.548 km/h). He broke his own record at Talladega with an average speed of 212.809 miles per hour (342.483 km/h); the previous record he set in 1986 was 209.383 miles per hour (336.969 km/h).[9] In both races, he used a Ford Thunderbird which contained an engine built by his brother Ernie. However, at Talladega, Bobby Allison was spun and went airborne into the catch fence, tearing a large section away and injuring several fans. After this incident, NASCAR mandated the use of restrictor plates at Daytona and Talladega. As a result, Elliott's speed records will likely never be broken. In 1988 Elliott won another six races, including the Southern 500 and the Pepsi Firecracker 400, six poles, and his first and only Winston Cup Championship.

Following his championship season, Elliott broke his wrist in a crash during testing at Daytona and required relief by Jody Ridley during several races in the first part of the 1989 season. Elliott won two poles and three races and finished sixth in the championship standings. In 1990, Elliott won one race and two poles and finished fourth in the championship standings. In the 1990 race at Atlanta, Elliott's rear tire changer Mike Rich was killed when Ricky Rudd lost control of his car, spun, and slammed the crew member between his car and Elliott's. This forced NASCAR to restrict the cars' speed on pit road. The 1991 season saw Elliott's sponsorship change to Coors Light and the familiar red on the car was replaced with blue. Elliott won once in the Pepsi 400 and won two poles and finished eleventh in the championship standings during his last season with Mellings.

Elliott left Melling to join Junior Johnson and Associates in 1992, replacing Geoffrey Bodine in the No. 11 Budweiser Ford. In 1992, Elliott won five races (including four in a row) and three poles, but much like his 1985 season he finished a disappointing second in the championship standings after squandering a large lead in the standings with a late season string of poor finishes. He did win the season finale at his home track in Atlanta, but lost the championship by 10 points to Alan Kulwicki, who finished in second place and had led the most laps by one over Elliott. Had Kulwicki not led the most laps, Elliott would have finished tied with him for the lead and would have been awarded the title on a tiebreaker due to him having more wins (as Elliott had won three more times than Kulwicki).[10]

Elliott went winless in 1993 and finished eighth in the standings. He scored just one win the following season in the 1994Southern 500 while finishing 10th in the championship standings. After his Darlington victory, Elliott announced he would be starting his own team with sponsorship from McDonald's in 1995.

After leaving Johnson's team, Elliott fielded his own Winston Cup race team from 1995 to 2000. He used the No. 94 in honor of his nephew, Casey Elliott, who was battling cancer at the time he formed the team and would die in 1996. The team also fielded entries in the Busch Series and Truck Series. Elliott failed to win a race during this time, though he did manage a two top ten finish in the championship standings, with an eighth place in 1995 In 1996, Elliott suffered during an accident at Talladega and, Elliott missed five races to recover from injuring a broken hip and was replaced by Dorsey Schroeder and Todd Bodine.

he did manage a two top ten finishes in the championship standings, with an eighth-place finishes in 1997.

After a disappointing 1999 season which saw Elliott's multi-car operation dissolve back into No. 94, Elliott announced in early 2000 he was selling his equipment to championship-winning crew chief Ray Evernham to become part of Dodge's return to NASCAR. The team would also switch to No. 9

In 1998 Elliott teamed up with Dan Marino to form a multi car team, the team was renamed Elliott-Marino Motorsports, adding the No. 13 and keeping the No. 94, Marino owned the No. 13 while Elliott owned the No. 94. The year was marked with sadness for Elliott when he had to miss the fall Dover race to attend the funeral of his father. Matt Kenseth drove Elliott's No. 94 and finished 6th in his Cup debut.

In 2000, Elliott sold his team to Ray Evernham and began driving the No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW-sponsored Dodge Intrepidthe following year. The team found success in his first race in the No. 9 Dodge, as Elliott won the pole for the 2001 Daytona 500 and finished in the Top 5, bringing home a 5th-place finish, though the race will forever be remembered for the death of fan favorite Dale Earnhardt. Elliott finished his first season with Evernham Motorsports with two poles, five Top 5's, and nine Top 10 finishes, and one win at the Pennzoil Freedom 400 at Homestead from the pole. This was his first win in over seven years. He finished 15th in the final points standings. In 2002, he won four poles and went to victory lane twice; those wins included the Pennsylvania 500 and one of the most dominant victories in the history of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway a week later[11] He finished 13th in the final points standings. His last win, in what became his final full-time season, came in 2003 at Rockingham. A week later, Elliott came within a lap of winning his final race as a full-time driver (he would have been the only retiring driver to do so) in the 2003 Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Elliott led 189 of 267 laps and was on his way to victory, but a cut tire on the final lap allowed Bobby Labonte to score the victory (his last and most recent win to date). He still finished the race and maintained his ninth-place position in the final points standings, his best points finish since finished eighth in the 1997 standings. A few weeks later, Elliott announced that he was relinquishing the No. 9 car to Kasey Kahne and switching to a part-time schedule driving R&D cars for Evernham.

In 2004, Elliott drove the No. 91 Dodge Intrepid for Evernham in three events (along with the Budweiser Shootout) he only made three starts during his first part-time season with Evernham, he still managed to have some success which included a ninth-place finish at Indianapolis and second and third-place qualifying efforts at Texas. He also brought back the Bill Elliott Racing moniker when he drove the 98 car twice in 2004, one with Coke C2 Sponsorship and one with McDonald's. The reason being that Evernham fielded cars with sponsorship with PepsiCo's Mountain Dew.

In 2005, Elliott continued his part-time driving duties which included driving the No. 39 CoorsDodge Charger(in a paint scheme reminiscent of his 1987 Coors Light Ford) for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Budweiser Shootout and the No. 91 Evernham Dodge in several events. Although he made three more starts than the previous season, he did not have the same amount of success. He managed to get an eleventh-place finish and a tenth-place qualifying effort at Michigan, along with a ninth-place qualifying effort at Texas. He also competed in select NASCAR Busch Series events for Rusty Wallace and also drove the No. 6 Unilever Dodge Charger in the Busch Series for Evernham at Memphis, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas.

For the 2006 season, the 2005 owners' points for the No. 91 team went to the new No. 10 Evernham team and driver Scott Riggs and the 91 team was discontinuted.

On August 8, 2006, Evernham Motorsports announced that Elliott would return to the organization for the race at Watkins Glen driving the No. 19 Dodge previously driven by Jeremy Mayfield. The team fell out of the top-35 in owners' points after Indianapolis, leading to the firing of Mayfield, and Evernham assumed that Elliott would guarantee a starting spot in the field by being a past champion. However, since the driver switch was made past the entry deadline, NASCAR said that Elliott was not eligible for the past champions provisional.

Elliott also drove the No. 98 Dodge Intrepid for Mach 1 Racing in three other events in 2004 because of sponsorship issues between Coca-Cola (Elliott's sponsor) and Pepsi (Evernham's sponsor). but Evernham leased the car to him. Although he only made three starts during his first part-time season as an driver, he still managed to have some success which included a third-place qualifying efforts at California respectively.

For the race at Kansas, Elliott teamed up with R&J Racing to drive the No. 37 Dodge. Elliott finished a season-high 16th at the Banquet 400 at Kansas, but did not qualify for the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte two weeks later. Elliott was scheduled to be the Team Red Bull entry for Atlanta, but A. J. Allmendinger drove the car instead, Elliott instead drove the No. 37 Dodge at Atlanta, marking the 30th Anniversary of Elliott driving at his hometown track.

Later that season, Elliott signed to drive the No. 21 for Wood Brothers Racing in 2007,[13] in part due to his championship provisional, which guaranteed starting the race.[14] Since fellow champion Dale Jarrett had used all of his guaranteed starts in his Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, Elliott was the only champion eligible for the provisional not guaranteed a spot by being in the top 35 in owner's points. His first race for the team was the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte, which he qualified without needing one of his six provisionals.[14] He led the race at one point until he was involved in a wreck around lap 200. At Michigan, Elliott gave the team a much needed 11th-place finish, and was kept in the car until the fall Richmond race. The car then fell out of the top 35 again but at Bristol got back into top 35 in points. Ken Schrader returned to the No. 21 replacing Elliott at a testing session at Talladega Superspeedway due to the team being back in the top 35 in owners points. He returned for the final four races after the 21 fell out of the top-35 once again.

On September 23, 2007, in an interview with Charlotte Observer Len Wood the co- owner of the No. 21 said in 2008 Elliott would have his own sponsor and share ride with Jon Wood and Marcos Ambrose.[15][16] Bill Elliott returned to the No. 21 to try to get the car back into the Top 35 points at Lowes Motor Speedway.[17]

2008 Cup car at Daytona

Elliott has qualified for ten races this season, with a best finish of 20th in the Sunoco Presents: The American Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway. At Daytona Elliott announced that 2008 will be his final season as a Sprint Cup driver. But at Kansas in an interview on NASCAR Raceday, Elliot was asked about him racing, and said "We will be at Lowe's, and do a few more races. Then we will see how things go." Bill in 2008, best starts were 5th at Bristol and 7th at Kansas. His best finish was 12th at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

In 2009, Elliott ran 12 races in the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford for the Wood Brothers, including the Daytona 500.[18] His best finish in 2009 was 15th place at Lowe's Motor Speedway.[18]

On Memorial Day May 25, 2009, Elliott became the 7th member of the "800 club", with his 800th career Sprint Cup start at Lowes Motor Speedway.[19][20]

In 2011, Elliott did not return to Wood Brothers Racing, but ran 4 races for Phoenix Racing in the No. 09 Chevy. Bill stepped out of the ride to assist his son Chase Elliott in the K&N Pro Series East. Landon Cassill would take over the car for the fifth race of the season, which was eventually renumbered to No. 51.

For the 2012 season, Elliott joined Joe Nemechek at NEMCO Motorsports to drive the No. 97 Toyota in the 2012 Daytona 500,[21] but failed to qualify for the race.[22] Elliott successfully qualify pied for the sprint race at Talladega driving the 97, but finished in 37th.

Elliott made his third start of the 2012 season driving for Turner Motorsports in the July race at Daytona International Speedway, in the No. 50 Walmart-sponsored Chevrolet. Elliott qualified 5th, and ran in the top 10 throughout the first half of the race, but finished 37th after being involved in an accident. This was his 828th and final start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.[23]

In 2014, Elliott tested a Nationwide car at Daytona with JR Motorsports along with his son Chase, and finished the January 11 practice second fastest behind son Chase with a speed of 197.974 mph (318.608 km/h).[24]